08/06/2017

Kristin sighed, sitting down again, "I know we're mates, Ryder."

Ryder's eyes searched her face for a reaction, however she had given herself enough time to let the news settle in. She just wanted to see Ryder's reaction.

"How--" he started saying, eyeing Kristin suspiciously.

"Come one, Ryder. You said it yourself. Your father was crazy, but he was smart. He figured out I was actually your mate. That's why he kidnapped me."

"My father told you?" he asked in disbelief.

"I guess at that point I already knew, but I was just in denial. Rickard confirmed it, though."

Ryder slowly nodded, trying to recover from this surprise.

"Also, on my way here, someone said I was 'the Alpha's mate', so..." she shrugged and sat back in her seat.

"Well, I guess I don't have to tell you that anymore," he muttered, confused that she was being so calm about this.

Kristin held her finger up, "Just because you were keeping it a secret from your father, didn't mean you had to keep it a secret from me."

"You basically made me say we weren't mates," he defended himself.

"No, I told you to tell me the truth!"

"No, you said 'I know we're not mates, so just say it,' so I did."

"Why?" Kristin threw her hands up.

"To shut you up," he shrugged, smirking.

Kristin scoffed, shaking her head at him.

"Also to make things easier," he shrugged.

"Easier?" Kristin scoffed, "We've done nothing but fight and argue for the past few weeks."

"Kristin, even if you knew we were mates, you'd still argue with me, right?"

Kristin remained silent, glaring at him.

"Thought so," he replied, smirking back to his computer screen.

Kristin was about to speak up when there was a knock on the door.

"Ethan," Ryder replied to the door, already knowing who it was.

A younger boy walked in, nodding his head at Ryder, "Alpha."

"I told you not to call me that," Ryder crossed his arms over his chest.

"Sorry Al-" he stopped himself before he could let the word slip again.

His gaze turned curiously to Kristin, sitting in the chair across from Ryder.

Ryder cleared his throat, giving Ethan a look that meant, spit it out.

"We're having another meeting in five minutes," his words were rushed.

Ryder nodded waving him away, "Alright, I'll be there soon."

Ethan bowed his head once more before exiting.

"Who was that?" Kristin asked once the door was closed.

Ryder chuckled at her question, shaking his head.

"He's my third in command."

"What?How old is he?"

"Sixteen," he replied, raising his brows.

"He's so young, he shouldn't have to have all of the responsibilities of that position," Kristin shook her head, remembering everything her father's third in command did for the pack.

"He volunteered," Ryder said, shrugging, "His family had gamma blood and he said he wanted to take the position."

"He's so young," Kristin repeated.

"Not really," Ryder shook his head, "Plus, I wasn't going to keep the same third in command as my father."

"Where is Karmin, by the way?" Kristin asked.

"In the prison," Ryder pointed to the floor.

Kristin tried not to think of the prison for too long, squeezing her eyes shut to stop the memories.

Ryder groaned, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"I hate meetings," he muttered, closing his laptop.

"You might want to get used to them," Kristin raised a brow, "Alphas have a lot of meetings."

"Don't remind me," Ryder ran his hand down his face, "This is why I never wanted to be Alpha. I could never understand why the hell Gabriel was so excited."

At the mention of Gabriel, both Ryder and Kristin remained silent.

Ryder got up, picking up some papers from his desk.

"I know you're my mate and that would mean you'd be the Luna. But I'm not going to force you into this, I should warn you, it sucks. And this is coming from an Alpha."

Ryder broke out into a smile when Kristin laughed.

"I'll help you," Kristin replied, crossing her legs on the chair.

"Why?" Ryder asked seriously, walking around his desk.

Kristin shrugged. She had never expected herself to be an Alpha in a hundred years. Growing up, she had been so close to that life, seeing her father as Alpha and her brother train for Alpha. She knew there came a huge responsibility with the title, yet she didn't want to leave Ryder to do this alone.

"Because we're mates," she shrugged, coming to a decision.

"But that doesn't mean you have to take the title, Kristin. It's going to be dangerous, for you especially," Ryder gave her a pointed look.

"Because I'm a human?" Kristin crossed her arms.

"No-- well that too. But because you'll be a Luna. They're targets for enemy packs."

"Ryder, my father is an Alpha and my mother is a human Luna. Don't you think I know this already?"

Ryder rolled his eyes, walking to stand in front of Kristin.

"You're sure?"

"If I have to say yes one more time I'm going to punch you," Kristin threatened.

Ryder looked at her, shaking his head.

"You're crazy, you know that?"

She didn't know if he was referring to her being the Luna or from her threat.

"A pack needs a Luna," she stated, thinking that's why he was calling her crazy.

Even if she was scared of having the title, she knew packs weren't as strong without both of their Alphas.

"The pack isn't as strong without the female Alpha, even you should know that," she said, standing up to walk around Ryder.

"What are you saying?" Ryder asked, pulling her back.

She took a step back, overwhelmed with the feeling of his proximity.

"I'm saying you need me," she said smugly, taking another step back when Ryder came closer.

"Really?" Ryder smirked when Kristin couldn't take a step back because the desk was in the way.

She narrowed her eyes at him as he took one more step, trapping her to the desk.

"I think what you're really trying to say, is that you need me," Ryder leaned closer to her, liking the way he was affecting her.

Kristin shoved his chest, trying to free herself from the heat inside of her. She didn't know why their bond was suddenly ten times stronger, but she was too weak to escape it.

Or, you don't want to escape it, a small voice spoke inside her head.

Ryder smiled at her weak attempt to get him to back off, liking the way she was affected.

"Just say it Kristin, you need me," he repeated teasingly, reaching up to brush his fingers over her cheek.

She fought the urge to lean in to his touch, liking the way her skin tingled with his touch.

"I don't," she breathed, focusing on Ryder's lips that formed his signature smirk.

She was going crazy at how close he was, not wanting to admit how much she liked it.

Just then there was a knock on the door, causing Ryder and Kristin to snap back to reality.

Ryder took one last look at Kristin's lips before he turned to face the door.

"Now what?" His voice sounded annoyed.

Kristin took this time to compose herself again, just before the door opened, revealing Ethan.

"The meeting just started Alpha- I mean," Ethan's face tinted pink as he struggled to address Ryder, "Sir?"

"Don't call me sir, I'm nineteen for heavens sake," Ryder said with distaste.

"Sorry, uh..."

"Ryder," Ryder said his name slowly, "My name is Ryder."

Ethan nodded quickly, "Right, well the meeting's started Ryder."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," Ryder rolled his eyes, shooing Ethan away once again.

Once Ethan disappeared behind the door, Kristin giggled.

"Sir."

Ryder turned back to her and scrunched up his nose.

"No."

"Okay, then, Alpha," she smirked.

"Wait-- actually you should call me that more often," he said, closing the distance between them again.

"Why?" Kristin asked, looking up at him.

"Because I like it," he said with a teasing smile, grabbing her waist to pull her closer to him.

"You're disgusting," Kristin rolled her eyes, prying his hand off her waist.

"And why on earth do you think you can do this?" she asked, finally being able to pull his hand away from her.

He looked confusingly down at his hand that was no longer on her waist.

"Because you're my mate."

Kristin shook her head disapprovingly and stepped away from him.

"See, that's the problem with wolves, they think they own their mates."

"You're mine," Ryder stated simply, following her across the room.

Kristin ignored the dumb little butterflies in her stomach from his words and instead started walking towards the door.

She probably should head home anyways, her parents would start to worry.

"I'm not yours, Ryder."

Ryder growled at her and stopped her from opening the door.

"Oh, no, Ryder. You are not about to get all possessive over me when you literally let me do whatever I wanted for the last two weeks," she glared at him, wanting to get away before the mate bond would make her want to stay, "Plus you made me think we weren't mates."

"You knew we were mates and I know it," Ryder replied, still keeping his hand on the door. "You said it yourself, you knew deep down we were. You just didn't want to admit it."

"Mhmm, that's exactly what happened," Kristin nodded sarcastically.

"I know you feel the bond," Ryder leaned closer to her.

Not again.

"Ryder, I have to go. If I don't get back, my parents will freak out."

Ryder rolled his eyes, "Fine."

He followed her out into the hall, wanting to go with her instead of the meeting.

Before Kristin could walk down the stairs, he tugged her back to his chest.

"Ryder!" Kristin tried to make her voice sound annoyed.

"What, you aren't going to say goodbye?" he smirked, crushing her to his chest.

"Get off me," Kristin forced out. She really did like the feeling of him holding her.

Ryder squeezed her waist, "I know you like it," he smirked.

"Nope," she argued, not trying to escape his arms.

He let her go as a door down the hall opened.

This time it was an older guy, peeking his head out of the door.

"Ryder, come on," he nodded inside the room.

Ryder sighed, "Right, I have a meeting."

Kristin chuckled, "Okay."

She stepped back, before turning on her heel she added, "Bye, Alpha," in the most sweetest voice she could muster.

She heard Ryder growl behind her, but didn't turn to look at him.

Truthfully, she was happy that they had talked, and she had gotten answers from him.

That didn't mean they were completely good, though. Well, they never actually were ever 'good' before. From the moment they had met, they had argued with each other constantly, even though most of their arguments were nonsense.

The thing that was bugging her the most, was that Kristin was low key afraid of what the future held for her and Ryder.

Not only was she nervous and scared of having to lead an entire pack with Ryder as Alphas, but she was also scared of the bond between them.

It had become stronger, and it was growing stronger every day. She didn't want things to move too fast, she wasn't ready to embrace everything happening (or what was supposed to happen) at once.

She knew it was important to complete the 'mating process' (she cringed, thinking about this weird wolf-tradition wording) but she also wanted to wait.

Like, a while.

Yes, she knew the pack as well as their relationship would be strongest after they completed the bond, but everyone would have to wait because she was not doing that anytime soon.

She was only eighteen, for crying out loud.

Next thing she knew, she'd be talked about having 'pups', and the last thing she wanted was to have children soon.

All of these thoughts and worries filled her mind as she drove back to her house.

•. •. •. •. •.

There's Chapter Twenty Four!

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